Prisoner X arrested after leaking Mossad work: ABC

ABC said sources have told the Foreign Correspondent programme that Zygier gave Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) officials information that included plans for a top-secret mission in Italy that had been years in the making.

It is unknown who initiated the contact with the Australian intelligence services, which came during one of his frequent visits back with his wife and children.

In one of four trips to Australia in the years before his death he reportedly applied for a work visa to Italy.

ABC said it understood Zygier was one of three Australian Jews working for Mossad who changed their names several times, taking out new passports as they travelled in the Middle East and Europe.

Zygier reportedly set up a Europe-based communications company for Mossad that exported electronic components to Arab countries as well as Iran, a venture that employed the two other dual citizens.